Has lockdown made you more likely to shop online in the future?
Shoppers with no place to go during lockdown have exponentially boosted online sales for many high street retailers and with companies such as delivery firms benefiting too, there are those who are hoping the temporary online boom is here to stay.
One of those betting on the continued online upturn is the delivery giant Hermes who are set to create more than 10,000 new jobs in the UK as it invests £100 million to meet the demand from stay-at-home shoppers. It will take on around 1,500 new full-time staff, including workers at its Yorkshire head office, warehouse staff, and drivers.
It will also create another 9,000 opportunities for self-employed couriers up and down the country.
Hermes believe that online shopping will not lose ground even as the high street starts to welcome customers back.
“The pandemic has expedited the already phenomenal growth of online shopping and we see no sign of this changing,” said chief executive Martijn de Lange.
Meanwhile UK grocery sales growth has started to slow down from record highs on the back of easing lockdown restrictions, according to new figures. As pubs and restaurants have started reopening, monthly grocery market share figures are showing a slight downturn in supermarket sales growth.
Supermarket sales for the four weeks to July 12 grew by 14.6% against the same period last year, as it slowed down from 18.9% growth in June, the latest data from Kantar, the world’s leading data and insight company revealed.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “As lockdown restrictions are gradually eased and non-essential retail outlets reopen, some consumers are slowly resuming their pre-Covid routines and shopping habits.
“However, we are clearly a long way off a complete return to normality.”
What are your views? Are your online habits likely to change post lockdown? Are you more inclined to buy online goods in the future or will you be heading back to the high street to shop? Does the mandatory wearing of a face-covering in all shops from 24th July put you off going shopping?
